Sopa de ajo with Nature’s Pride 12 Grain

Happy Thursday evening! It is almost the Friday before a long weekend, and I could not be more ready. This week I have done a lot of cooking, as you can probably tell. I definitely tend to become more of a homebody when summer ends, but don’t worry I am sure I will continue seeking out food and wine adventures I am in a great mood tonight, in part due to the FOUR jars of almond butter that Blue Diamond sent me to try. I can not wait to open them after I get back from the long weekend. Could they bypass our beloved Barney Butter or TJ’s almond butter? We shall see

Last night’s dinner was inspired by a Mario Batali recipe from the Spain on the RoadAgain cookbook, and it was enhanced with Nature’s Pride 12 grain bread.

2) Peel and finely chop garlic, or toss in the food processor to save a bit of time.

3) Coat the bottom of a heavy soup pot with a thin layer of olive oil, turn heat on to low, and place cubes of bread in the oil so that maximum bread surface is in contact with the oil. Let the bread sauté for a couple of minutes, then use a spatula to flip each cube so that both sides get nicely golden brown.

4) Once the bread has a nice golden color, toss in the chopped garlic and stir so that the garlic also has some contact with the hot oil. Lower heat and simmer for another minute, being careful not to burn the garlic.

5) Pour in the chicken broth, then the wine, then the water. We used Nashoba Valley Vidal Blanc because we had a bottle open, but you can use whatever white you like, remembering that the flavor concentrates as it cooks, so use something yummy!

6) Stir slowly, breaking up the bread as the soup starts to simmer. Add the cayenne pepper and some salt. Taste to make sure that the flavors are right for you.

7) Bring up to a boil, add the shrimp to the soup, then turn back down to a simmer. The shrimp will only take a couple of minutes to cook. Once they are pink on both sides you can turn the heat off and let the soup rest for a minute or two.

Sprinkle with additional fresh ground pepper and salt to taste, and you are ready to eat!

I will be submitting this recipe to Nature’s Pride for the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival scholarship, so fingers crossed! The festival is getting near; if you are going please let me know!

P.S. A great blogger is running the Chicago Marathon this weekend for an amazing cause! Check out http://chicagomarathonval.com/ to wish her luck and find out more about her charity!

Hey you ! I am just getting to my Google Reader (augh!!!) after a CRAZY week!!! Am sitting in an exhibit hall at a conference in Buffalo!! I LOVED the TV series of On the Road Again!! In fact, I watched it ALL during my summer of the 15 flights – mostly on the way to Australia! So great! I should look at the book (errr…. yeah to add to the hundreds I already have!!!) So excited to be in the States this weekend (briefly!) so I can get my fix of all these great products you guys keep writing about and that I can’t get at home!!! YAY!!! Anyway, I digress – I love the look of this recipe and in my book, it’s a WINNING ONE!! Hope Nature’s Pride think so too!!! I can’t wait to meet you in November!!!

I can watch Spain on the Road Again episodes again and again. I am obsessed with Spain! Really, they just need to hire me. Do you also watch Home & Away by any chance? It is my favorite guilty pleasure when I am in Ireland. Love it! Can’t wait to meet you too; it will be quite exciting to be graced with the presence of one of the Best New Bloggers! This month is absolutely flying by, we will be in SFO before we know it!